Blue Microphones Snowball USB Microphone, Classic Studio-Quality Mic for Recording, Podcasting, Broadcasting, Twitch Game Streaming, Voiceovers, YouTube Videos on PC and Mac – Black
-
Legendary Blue Broadcast Sound
Capture legendary Blue broadcast sound with exceptional presence and detail for podcasting, YouTube productions, game streaming, Skype calls and voice over work.
-
Adjustable Desktop Stand
Position the microphone in relation to the sound source with Snowball’s adjustable metal tripod stand, improving sound quality while saving space on your desktop.
-
-10 dB Pad
Maintain professional audio quality with a -10 dB pad in cardioid mode, which keeps Snowball sounding clean and distortion-free on louder voices and instruments.
-
Multiple Pickup Patterns
The cardioid pattern is perfect for recording and streaming, while omni puts you “in the room” for conference calls.
-
Blue Sherpa Companion App
Fine-tune your sound with deep control of Snowball. Manage your mic gain and more right from your desktop.
-
Available in Three Bold Colors
Compliment your studio with one of Snowball’s three distinct finishes: Gloss Black, Brushed Aluminum and Textured White.
-
Plug ‘n Play on Mac and PC
Start recording quickly and easily with driver-free operation on Mac and PC.
-
Stylish, Retro Design
Record or stream in style with an eye-catching design inspired by classic recording equipment that looks great on your desktop and on camera.
-
Two Versatile Pickup Patterns
Snowball offers two different pickup patterns to suit a variety of applications. Switch between cardioid and omni modes to get the best sound for any recording situation.
-
Cardioid Mode
Perfect for podcasts with a single host, game streaming, Skype calls, vocal performances, voiceovers and instruments.
-
Omnidirectional
Omnidirectional mode is best used in situations when you want to have a conference call with multiple participants in the same room, or a multi-person interview on a podcast.
-
-
Accessorise Your Creative Space
Transform your desktop into a broadcast studio with the Compass broadcast boom arm and Ringer shockmount.
-
Compass Premium Broadcast Boom Arm
Compass features a broadcast studio-grade design with enclosed aluminium construction, internal springs and hidden-channel cable management.
-
Ringer Custom Shockmount
Ringer is a vintage-style suspension designed to isolate microphones from noise,shock and ambient vibration.Although custom-designed for our Snowball USB mics, Ringer can also be used with other mics
Comparison Table
 Snowball |  Snowball ICE |  Yeti Nano |  Yeti |  Yeti Pro | |
| Capsules | 1 Condenser | 2 Condensers | 2 Condensers | 3 Condensers | 3 Condensers |
| Patterns | Cardioid | Cardioid, Omni | Cardioid, Omni | Cardioid, Omni,Figure-8,Stereo | Cardioid, Omni,Figure-8,Stereo |
| Bit Depth/Sample Rate | 16-bit/44kHz | 16-bit/48kHz | 24-bit/48kHz | 16-bit/48kHz | 24-bit/192kHz |
| Gain Control | – | -10dB PAD | Via desktop app | Yes | Yes |
| Mute | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Headphone Output | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Headphone Volume | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Output | USB | USB | USB | USB | USB, XLR |
| Weight: | 1.13 kg |
| Dimensions: | 12.38 x 20 x 25.4 cm; 1.13 Kilograms |
| Model: | 988-000069 |
| Colour: | Black |
| Batteries Included: | 1 Lithium ion batteries required. |
| Colour: | Black |
Recordings seem quiet at first but recording using OBS (Open Broadcast Software) I could bump up the audio and it worked out great. Easy to use with plug and play.
Like most things it comes down to your own set-up and configurations, but ultimately the one complaint I had I could work around.
En tolles und eigentlich preiswertes Mikrofon. Super stabiler Stand, super Klang und die Richtcharakteristik ist umschaltbar. Funktionierte sofort am MAC.
Works well, can pickup good audio but have to be within an inch or two for full effectiveness. Have used for the past 6 months and has served me well. I would recommend it however if you do have the extra 25/50 to spare I think a Yeti or Rode mic may be much better if what you’re only looking for is good audio. Has survived many crashes/falls and still not a mark on it. Stand is also very well designed and sturdy with the usefulness of adjustments too.
his microphone likes cool so im going to buy one soon XD its good for your money
Came next day! user friendly and a brilliant nice crystal sound, everyone is complimenting this microphone that i speak too! i can now resume with my podcast’s and streams in full HD Crisp sound.
Only thing that knocks this product is that it isn’t so great for skype chats as for some strange reason this microphone doesn’t seem to work well with Skype, as in terms of the quality is bad and really muffled and very quiet, THIS is only in SKYPE, everything else is perfect.
Lovely little mic, very clear and works with my PS4 very nicely via the USB
4/5 stars because the casing is plastic, although it is well made.
For studio people, many DAWS wont work with this unless you can enable ASIO4ALL or your soundcard has the option to listen to a usb mic as many DAWs dont have this as an option.
Das Mikrofon hat mich von der Qualitt der Aufnahmen von Anfang an berzeugt. Das Mikrofon nimmt Stimmen sehr detailgetreu auf, lsst sie aber auch ein klein wenig kalt wirken. Hier ist also wirklich der Redner gefragt um Emotion in das gesprochene hineinzubringen.
I got this yesterday I tried it out and I was blown away it. I brought it in the first place because I have a gaming channel on youtube and recently I switched to mac and my old microphone is not compatible with mac so I thought I would try this I have now used this for skype and test recording with a guitar if you want a microphone cheaper that the yeti go for this. This last thing I have to say this the snowball ice does not have the mode switches that the black version of the snowball has
As I am also recording a video (headshot), it’s practical to not have a huge mike in front of your face, so that renders it useless for that purpose. I figured I could use it for audio whilst doing screen capture (not talking head)…also not ideal as if you are using your mouse or keyboard, you still have to have your head down by the mike to get good audio, which is also not ideal. I have ordered a couple of cheap lapel mikes now, and I will be upset if they are great, as they are 5 and this is, well, quite a lot more.
If you are using it purely for narration, the sound quality is awesome, but sadly not much use for anything else.
Update:
Okay, looked at all the youtube reviews of this, and folks were getting great sound out of it, so I splashed out 10 on a boom arm…much much better. I can now position it quite close to my mouth, but still keep it out of shot. I still have to up the gain in Camtasia studio, but the results are good. I just need to learn how to polish the audio with audacity now.
As I am also recording a video (headshot), it’s practical to not have a huge mike in front of your face, so that renders it useless for that purpose. I figured I could use it for audio whilst doing screen capture (not talking head)…also not ideal as if you are using your mouse or keyboard, you still have to have your head down by the mike to get good audio, which is also not ideal. I have ordered a couple of cheap lapel mikes now, and I will be upset if they are great, as they are 5 and this is, well, quite a lot more.
If you are using it purely for narration, the sound quality is awesome, but sadly not much use for anything else.
Update:
Okay, looked at all the youtube reviews of this, and folks were getting great sound out of it, so I splashed out 10 on a boom arm…much much better. I can now position it quite close to my mouth, but still keep it out of shot. I still have to up the gain in Camtasia studio, but the results are good. I just need to learn how to polish the audio with audacity now.
As I am also recording a video (headshot), it’s practical to not have a huge mike in front of your face, so that renders it useless for that purpose. I figured I could use it for audio whilst doing screen capture (not talking head)…also not ideal as if you are using your mouse or keyboard, you still have to have your head down by the mike to get good audio, which is also not ideal. I have ordered a couple of cheap lapel mikes now, and I will be upset if they are great, as they are 5 and this is, well, quite a lot more.
If you are using it purely for narration, the sound quality is awesome, but sadly not much use for anything else.
Update:
Okay, looked at all the youtube reviews of this, and folks were getting great sound out of it, so I splashed out 10 on a boom arm…much much better. I can now position it quite close to my mouth, but still keep it out of shot. I still have to up the gain in Camtasia studio, but the results are good. I just need to learn how to polish the audio with audacity now.
The quality is good, build finish is nice, it looks good in a room and works very well. I think the USB connectivity clearly helps get rid of the hisssss people find on most microphones. A short look on Google will tell you this is a pedigreed professional company that has been in the recording business for a while
The have a few microphones out and this (almost) the entry-level – I think based on quality of recordings for Videoblogging this is as far as you need to go
The only problems I have with the Blue Snowball are that there is no way to mute the mic manually and the red light indicating the microphone is powered on is bright red and is extremely distracting during any environment. So bright that it lights up my face red when trying to record live gameplay.
I needed a microphone to use for video conferencing at an event. I needed something that would capture a large room (10 x 20 meters) and that wouldn’t pickup the remote presenters voice, which was being amplified via an external amp and large speakers to reach the entire room.
After trying (and returning) several products I have to say I am extremely pleased with the Blue Snowball.
It had amazing pickup from all parts of the room, including right at the back. The remote presenter had no problem hearing questions being asked. This was without the need for people to approach the mic either.
There was absolutely NO feedback for the remote presenter, even though their voice was amplified quite high and the Blue Snowball Mic was in the pickup field. The internal noise canceling in the Mic is top notch.
Very pleased and HIGHLY recommended as it is a fraction of the cost of purpose built conference mics and in my opinion works FAR better.
I do love this microphone, definitely worth the price. The only downfall it has, is that it is very easy to rotate the mic on it’s stand and if there is loud noise, it can pick up some vibration but as I said, it really is worth the price.
Volunteering in Hospital Radio, I wanted a microphone I could plug directly into a laptop that I could use at the studio to record interviews. This fits the bill very nicely, as I have Audacity software running on the laptop and I can immediately monitor the results of the recording. Very easy to use, just unpack and connect it to the laptop. There are three settings on the back of the microphone – Setting 1 is for speech, vocals and podcasting; Setting 2 is for live music and loud sound sources; Setting 3 is for conferences, interviews and environmental recordings. The Blue Snowball comes with stand and a USB cable for plugging into a laptop etc.
Really pleased with it and would recommend this as a solution to recording material.
So far a brilliant microphone. works well for close recordings and from a distance thanks to its 3 modes, each of which are suited for different styles of recording, one in particular takes advantage of the Omnidirectional feature giving almost 360 degrees of clear audio (good for podcasts or similar single track recordings) If you happen to be doing a voice-over I do however recommend wearing headphones whilst recording as it can be extremely sensitive to loud background noise, and anything you hear through your speakers will almost certainly be picked up.
One of the best mics I’ve owned. Sound quality is great for voice overs, online gaming, skype, etc… It looks awesome too which is a good feature for something that’s going to be stuck in front of your face for hours.
The only thing I could complain about is the red LED position. If you gaming while using this it can be a little annoying, other than that it’s great.
Great microphone super easy to use. It really is just plug and play no drivers are needed to use though they can be picked up easily under device manager but there is no need. I normally record helpful videos and Skype on it and it seems option 3 is best for me since I live in a dorm. Did I mention how easily it is to switch to the different options.its amazing it’s just a toggle in the back and it’s perfect cause I was planning on doing music later to. The only complaint I’d have that doesn’t affect me hardly is the stand that they provided isn’t very adjustable or at least not that I’ve been able to figure out but that’s no issue for me. It’s exactly what I wanted no set up ur and use. Oh if ur using obs and a Webcam it can be difficult to turn off the Webcam mic pic up go into settings turn on snowball then go under the scenes into ur Webcam pick up and turn it to the correct mic as well or u will have some issues of obs trying to use 2 mics so not the snowballs fault just thought I’d share some knowledge that took me time to work out. Great product 5 stars deserved
This is one of the best entry-level standing microphones there is in terms of sound quality and price, but it becomes hard to recommend because of its unwieldy shape, massive weight and proprietary shock mount. The mic has three capture modes, Front, Front low dB and Front/back.
If considering this microphone, it’s really best to consider whether or not you intend to use the shock mount – if you do, perhaps looks elsewhere for a normal-shaped mic that will fit a normal shock mount.
Il dispositivo ha 3 modalit di utilizzo: quella per parlare direttamente al microfono (podcast, chat, etc…), quella per registrare uno strumento musical (applicando un -10dB) e quella per registrare tutto intorno (abilitando anche la cattura dal retro), modalit utile in caso di conferenze o altro.
Il prezzo nella media della concorrenza, ed il microfono vale tutti i soldi richiesti.
Facile da usare, ottima qualit!
L’unica mancanza (presente in prodotti della concorrenza) un’entrata per le cuffie in modo da ascoltare direttamente quanto si stia registrando.
P.s.: non avendo una regolazione dell’audio in input, l’impostazione del volume demandata al PC (sia per quanto riguarda la qualit della scheda audio e sia per quel che riguarda i valori di cattura).
Just opened it and tried it out quickly, there’s no set up required at all, it just plugs straight in the USB port and you’re ready to go. The sound is really clear, if a little quiet perhaps (maybe its just me that’s quiet), and it doesn’t pick up the annoying little things like breathing or other such noises, while not making me sound far away. It’s a pretty little thing and it has a small stand. I’ve bought a pop shield to go with it, I’d suggest anyone else do the same, they’re cheap and since this mic has no protection of its own it’ll make it last longer. While it’s not one of those high-end expensive microphones, it feels professional to use, its solid and doesn’t have a grainy quality to it. While not cheap, for what it is, I’d probably call it a bargain. It seems to be well known for being a reliably good product from a respected brand. If you’re just using it for average at-home recordings then it’s perfect, it’d do okay in a studio too, probably.
Sorry for the long review but I hope you find it helpful and that it helps you with your choice of mic for what you want. Feel free to comment with questions and I will try to give you the most accurate answer I can. 😀
Jetzt ist es schon mehrere Wochen her seit ich mein Blue Microphone aus der Verpackung geholt und damit losgelegt habe. Ich hatte nicht sehr groe Erwartungen, aber ich wurde sehr positiv berrascht. Hier die Grnde:
– die Tonaufnahmen sind einfach Spitze, man muss es sagen wie es ist. Ich bin kein Tontechniker und benutze das Mikrofon um Videos zu vertonen (Schulungszentrum). Mit dem Blue Snowball geht das Ganze jetzt einfach flott voran, weil wir kaum noch korrigieren mssen. Die Qualitt ist sehr gut und klar. Erfllt einfach alle Kriterien fr den Kauf.
– sieht fantastisch gut aus und ist solide. Die Verarbeitung ist hochwertig und jeder der in mein Bro kommt, frgt was das fr ein interessantes Teil auf dem Schreibtisch ist. Das Design ist gelungen und sieht einfach gut aus (ich habe das schwarze Modell)
Bin sehr zufrieden. Empfehlenswert.
Exactly what i paid for, decent microphone quality and versatility for a very low price relative to other microphones, definitely a good product, although its mini stand it comes with is a bit rickety
I impulse bought this after my small clip on mic stopped working with my sound card (still not sure which caused the problem). The microphone is big, probably just larger than a tennis ball and has a weight that makes you feel confident with it. The pickup is fantastic, I have mine about 3-4 feet away at the back of my desk and during games my fellow mumble users can hear me well. I have done a voice over for a youtube video with it and it also sounded excellent and crisp.
Overall I’m very happy with it and I’m glad I went for this over the ICE model as the only difference I can see is that this has the 3 setting adjustment on the back where the ICE is cardioid only. For reference this has cardioid, -10dB cardioid and omni.
Loses 1 star purely on a cosmetic factor, it might be my motherboard but when the PC powers off the red light stays lit.
Good mic for youtube! Quality can be seen on any of my latest videos on youtube “EDz Gaming”. You need to be very close for it to work though, so reccomend a mic arm as well!
This microphone is very good for the price. And microphones don’t come cheap. It is good for anything you can throw at it (apart from studio recording). Excellent for Skype, great for YouTube commentaries, excellent for general voice recording. Anything that comes out the microphone unprocessed has very little distortion and zero crackling. I feel it doesn’t record high vocals or very low notes very well, but thats to be expected. As a media studies student, I very much appreciate it.
Easy to use. No drivers is great, the sound quality for me is perfect. Works great with VOIP/PS4. Only reason I bought this really was because I bought a new set of AKG 712 Pros and didn’t want a mic on the side of them for when I was gaming, sure it’s overkill but oh well, looks great on the desk now 🙂 I’d reccomend this to anyone that is looking for a USB mic.
Works great! I love it.
My only issue is between mode 1 (cardioid mode) and mode 2 (quiet cardioid).
I feel like the difference between them is too much.
One is super loud and picks up my keyboard and the traffic noise outside, the other, I have to be quite close and boost it again in post. I wish there was a slider or something.
This is a great mic for what I am using it for – scratch audio for animation projects. It’s very crisp and, for a strictly visual person (I hire people who are amazing at audio because it’s not my forte!), it gives me a great piece to work with until the pro’s give me what I need. So far I’ve been happy and it’s easy to use. The only reason it doesn’t get a 5 from me is the sticker that wraps around the seal is coming off…. not a big deal, but speaks a little to quality. It fell off within the first week. It looks bad, which reminds me it’s a fault. But at the end of the day, it’s nice.
Product arrived quickly. it is fantastic for vocals and Skype calls. Tried it out next to my amp with an electric guitar but, despite changing to the correct settings, the input I get is a bit quiet. I have got the mic sensitivity on full and all other settings are as they should be for optimum input, but it is still a tad quiet. Great quality though and I am still very happy.
I could be here for hours waxing lyrical about this microphone as it does it all. Difficult to see from the photos but it is actually gloss black for those who want to know. Well put together piece of kit, simply plug and play and off you go. Works if you just want to use it for chatting on the internet, and for those with more musical talent, works fine in a home studio environment. I would suggest a pop filter if you are going to use it for recording. Well worth the money, and most importantly, it looks cool 🙂
Recommend to anyone who wants to record their voice for any occasion. Gaming videos, Music videos or just things like Skype, it picks up sound with nearly perfect quality and volume from quite a distance and will make the audio sound crisp and clear. Fairly cheap for the service provided, easy to set up and highly recommended for multiple uses and reasons. Easily better then some more expensive microphones and worth the price. A must have for audio recording.
As a you-tuber, I was looking for a good quality mic for my videos. I found multiple reviews on this mic all over the internet and, surprisingly, all of them were pretty good, so I decided to try it out. As soon as I finished a video, I listened to the video and I was blown away because of the quality delivered from such a reasonably cheap microphone. I highly recommend it to any gamer out there as it is simply fantastic.
This Mic is great for recording your voice and creating Lets Play style videos for YouTube. The quality of the recording and the Mic itself is amazing. Blue Microphones are known for being a great brand and that is 100% the case here. Comes with a tripod and works via USB. I don’t think it comes with its own voice editing software BUT there are plenty of free and cheap ones around the net. The only reason I haven’t given it 5 Stars is because of the price. Its slightly too expensive for me to recommend it to everyone as some people simply don’t have the funds or means to afford items of this quality. If Blue could get the price down a little bit I would be inclined to give it 5 Stars easily. If you need a Mic and can afford this one, go for it. If not then I believe Blue do have a few slightly less expensive models available but of course they will be of lesser quality as you get what you pay for in this world.
Bought as a gaming/youtube mic for my kids. Plug and play into their macs (iMac and Macbook Pro), and produces decent audio. Not high-end stuff, but most definitely does the job and is good value for money.
A bit on the chunky side, and takes up desk space, but on the other hand it looks pretty impressive when their friends come round.
Works beautify.
The sound is crisp and has a good directional pickup.
The stand that comes with it is a bit small and will cause any desk vibrations to be picked up.
The screw socket is the large 5/8″ size not the 3/8″ size used in the eu, so you may need an adapter for a stand.
The ball socket that allows you to reposition the microphone on its stand can become very lose and you can end up with a floppy mic.
If you’re looking for a great SKype / Vent / Mumbl microphone for streaming or other purposes, look no further. DO NOT MISTAKEN this model for the Blue Snowball ICE – the ICE is a more basic model of the Blue Snowball
Personally, I bought this mic for making YouTube videos which I know a lot of people use it for. I think this microphone is perfect for someone like me – someone who has just started a channel. It is relatively cheap for what it is and works excellently for the purposes I intended to use it for. I would recommend this microphone to any ‘new’ YouTube video maker out there. The voice is pretty much perfect, and ultimately, it’s ridiculously easy to set up – Just plug in the USB and off you go.
wow! didnt expect the mic to be as good as it is, it delivered today and just finished testing it all out and i have just got to say wow!
if your looking at this mic right now do your self a favour and click buy 😀 you would not regret it one bit, i have various other mics as i record live bands and solo artists and this 60 pound mic is as good as the top range studio mics, no distortion, no feed back and a sound thats so clear its all most to good to be true, this is your number 1 microphone right here 😀
A great product with great sound quality it is easy to set up the only bad thing is is that there isn’t a audio jack outpu
Picked this up for 54.99 and it came today. It took 6 days but I did choose the free delivery so I can’t get annoyed about that. But wow, the quality of the mic was apparent as soon as I held it and just looked. Fantastic design and feels very robust, the stand is sturdy too. But when I actually used it for the first time, I was blown away by the sound quality. I’m using this for making YouTube videos so I wanted some real studio-style clarity. I got that and then some with this mic.
This microphone is awesome, I have been using it for about a day and it already impresses me greatly. I run a YouTube channel and I do; Podcasts, Lets plays, and tutorials, and this microphone is just awesome! It looks sexy, and it is a good weight. The metal stand is good. It is great all round, and is easy to work with the audio when editing. And at the price it is at now, Its worth it!
My son got this for Christmas & he loves it. Sound quality is so clear. Very very very happy boy
This is truly a plug-and-go microphone. No drivers necessary, great quality.
Slight problem after a few months of using it, the microphone seems to freeze and be unresponsive, putting my Skype calls on hold, but this is easily fixed by unplugging the back plug and plugging it back in again.
As well, the red light is very useful in telling me when it’s running, however, the device doesn’t seem to shut down after I turn off my computer. The red light is always present. This isn’t exactly worrying, more than intriguing. Is there a battery inside? Is it still drawing power from my system?
Great value for money, The quality of the sound is awesome! I didn’t need the popscreen but i got it just incase there was any distortion, but in truth the quality is studio like without the pop screen. I also got it even cheaper than the offer price, because my friend brought me a gift card! Great product, i highly reccomend it if you want to record video’s, screen recording, gaming, commentary, skyping, radio, podcasting and anything else you can think of that requires using your voice.
Das Mic ist groe Klasse, ob Teamspeak oder Aufnahme von Sprache mit hoher Qualitt.
Ich habe noch keinen Makel finden knnen und meinen Pop Schutz habe ich bei normalem sprechen noch nicht nutzen mssen,
da das “Metallgitter” schon gengen Pops filtert.
Wenn ich meinen billigen Pronomic Filter richtig aufgebaut habe (richtiger abstand und winkel, kein 90 zum Mund!)
ist selbst durch pusten nur sehr schwer ein Pop zu erzeugen.
Mir ist nicht 100% schlssig wozu die beiden Einstellungen gut sind womit man das Mic leiser / unemfindlicher macht,
aber ich GLAUBE das es sogar mglich ist extrem laute Situationen aufzunehmen, ohne das das Mic sein Qualitts Limit erreicht.
There are several reasons as to why you should get a standalone microphone, other than the obvious increase of sound quality.
1. It means you are no longer forced to use gaming headphones and can use some better ones.
2. You stop being a microphone breather and will be heard clearer.
3. People can instantly hear your mechanical keyboard.
In all seriousness it’s a great product, I haven’t found a single flaw or want in the product and I have been using it for a months time now in a variety of gaming and random chatting situations.
Well packaged, high quality and looks cool. I would recommend black or white over silve
Having always used a headset with a built in microphone and always having the microphone give up before the headphones did, I decided to go for seperates. Did a bit of research and had a few recommendations from friends and finally settled on this little beauty.
Friends say they can hear what i’m saying crystal clear even though the mic is situated on my desk and with background noise behind me (which it cancels out). It isn’t cheap and it is fairly large but you will not regret using one of these. You can go for the cheaper version which is the Snowball ICE but that doesn’t have the features of this one.
So if your looking for a microphone then I can whole heartedly recommend this one.
This mic couldn’t be simpler to use. Plug it into a USB port, then start your recording software. The software will find the mic and identify it, and that’s all there is to it. Keep in mind that it’s a mono mic, not a stereo. Within that limitation it works quite well. If you’re using it to record speech or singing you’ll need some kind of a pop guard (they’re available, or you can make one easily enough). The mic comes with a decent little desk-top stand and a good cord to connect it to the computer. It’s adjustable for various uses, and the adjustments work well. The mic itself is a bit bigger than you might expect, being a bit over 4 inches (100mm) in diameter. Also be aware that it comes in various colors, and for some reason, although the mics are identical except for the color of their plastic, they sell for different prices.
Let me tell you, if you’re thinking of purchasing this Mic, you’re onto a winner!
Let me start off by saying;
The quality produced by this mic is prestine. Clear and crisp sound. Background noise is a minority, however can be editied in a sound recording software.
The Mic comes with a nice metal adjustable Mic stant, which is very nice, and also comes with a long, plastic coated well protected USB.
This MIC sits perfectly on Desks and is great for Youtube, Skype and musical recordings.
Considering buying this mic? Go on, its fantastic and I recommend it to anyone! Not to mention the speedy delivery and great packaging.
5* Awesome job!
P-shields, shock absorbers needless with this. High quality voice recording will be carried out by this mic without th eneed of any accessories. I keep it on my desk atop it’s own stand, very little to none fan noise is captured by the mic in cardioid mode, my voice is recorded with extreme fidelity.
Very easy installation. It only needs to be plugged in (win 8 tested).
Fully compatible with Logitech 920 HD cam. The mic is selectable as a sound source from within the camera’s software.
The supplied stand offers extension and rotation of the mic.
Well designed, looks cool (but see cons as well)
cons
Big, heavy, bulky, expensive, red led annoys me at times. The mic on it’s own is just a heavy sturdy ball. When attached to its stand it takes considerable space at least on my small desktop area.
My 20 year old really loves this, really good item. Bought for an xmas present. He was chuffed with it.
Very nice design! I use this for Skype and voice recording with Garageband on the Mac. It was plugged in and literally worked straight away. Picks up voice sound clearly. Overall really happy, only complaints would be the four metal pins on the back of the mic are very weak, you have to be so careful with them. Anyone else have this concern?
Ich bin mit dem Mikrofon im Groen und Ganzen sehr zufrieden. Die Audioqualitt ist gut bis sehr gut und perfekt geeignet fr Podcasts, Youtube-Videos und Skype-Anrufe in hoher Qualitt. Fr letzteres wrde ich jedoch ein zustzliches “groes” Mikrofonstativ mit Galgen empfehlen, weil man sonst bei normaler Haltung vor dem PC einfach zu weit vom Mikrofon entfernt ist. Gute Erfahrungen hab ich mit k&m Mikrofonstativen gemacht. Ich benutze das Mikro auch zum Einspielen von Instrumenten. Fr den Home-Studio Bereich vollkommen ausreichend. Ffrs professionelle Studio wrd ich’s nicht unbedingt einsetzen, dass kann man meiner Meinung nach auch nicht von einem >100 Euro Mikrofon erwarten 😉 Trotzdem: Kaufen!
(Nein, ich arbeite nicht fr Amazon 🙂
This does not work with Pro Tools software, but free recording software such as Audacity is fine.
The microphone is great, quite a lot of low end, but when you roll that off the higher frequencies are captured very well. The 3 settings are easy to use, cardioid, cardioid with a -10dB pad and omni-directional.
You would probably want a pop shield or something more to hold back the P’s, as I said, this microphone captures a fair amount of low end, so P’s tend to jump out big time.
Also the amount of power this microphone needs from the USB hub is pretty substantial. This means that you may have to disconnect some (or in my case, pretty much all) other USBs in order to feed the microphone enough power.
Overall, a great sounding USB microphone that is good value for money and professional sounding microphone settings that you would expect more on studio-quality microphones rather than desktop USB ones.
I’ve had this microphone for just over a year, I use it to make Youtube videos and the quality when recording is great. As for the structure of the mic it’s 50/50 for me. The stand does the job but it’s not particularly sturdy and when elevated it can feel a bit flimsy and never feels like it’s properly locked in. The USB cable has been an issue since day one, it must have been faulty because it takes a few tries for the PC to recognise. I didn’t do anything earlier as just unplugging/putting it back in fixed the issue, but today it took almost ten minutes to make it work. I ordered an Amazon Basics cable and hopefully this will resolve the issue as the product is still in very good working order and has never let me down once its been recognised by my computer.
Pros
– Microphone has great recording quality.
– It looks good (if that matters). I own a black one to suit my desk.
Cons
-Faulty Cable
-For the money, a better stand could be supplied.
It was a great Mic, really clear and crisp in sound for a USB microphone, only down side for me is that it worked great on my old laptop and now doesn’t work at all on my new Windows 8 laptop, probably my own fault for not realizing it before I bought the laptop, but you’d think that they’d invest more time in making it compatible with windows 8 and other new versions. Still a great product though unless you’re on Windows 8.
Frisch aus England hergeflogen, gleich auf meinem Schreibtisch.
Keine Komplikationen.
Ausgepackt, angesteckt fertig. Wird sofort als externes Mikrofon erkannt.
Ich empfehle einennormalen Popschutz zu dem Mikrofon dazu zu kaufen, (Verbessert die Verstndlichkeit + Qualitt)
Fr Podcasts und generelle Videos eine sehr angenehme Sache. Ich sitze hier ca. 20-30+ cm von dem Mikrofon weg und man versteht sich wunderbar.
Auf jeden Fall zu empfehlen.
This microphone is very good for it’s price but it’s too big. The stand for it is a overkill. It gets in the way sometimes.
I needed a microphone to record vocals and guitar but at the same time I didn’t have much money to spend, then I found the Blue Snowball and I was relieved.
Its a great little microphone, because its a condenser it records vocals very well, I use the microphone for both voice acting and singing and I hasn’t let me down yet! I’m also using it to record guitar and it does a really good job at the too, its best at recording acoustic guitar and though I would prefer a dynamic microphone for recording electric guitar (because of the amplifier) it still does a great job at recording that too.
Build quality is excellent, very sturdy, I’ve knocked it over and dropped it more times then I am proud of and still works like the day I got it.
One thing I will say is though, I don’t notice too much of a difference between the microphones Cardioid and Omnidirectional settings, in Cardioid mode the microphone will still pick the quite a bit of the sound around it.
Overall a great product, can’t beat the price! Perfect for anyone just starting out in recording, especially voice, and looking to get a cheap and semi-professional audio quality microphone, great for Skype calls too!
I needed a microphone to record vocals and guitar but at the same time I didn’t have much money to spend, then I found the Blue Snowball and I was relieved.
Its a great little microphone, because its a condenser it records vocals very well, I use the microphone for both voice acting and singing and I hasn’t let me down yet! I’m also using it to record guitar and it does a really good job at the too, its best at recording acoustic guitar and though I would prefer a dynamic microphone for recording electric guitar (because of the amplifier) it still does a great job at recording that too.
Build quality is excellent, very sturdy, I’ve knocked it over and dropped it more times then I am proud of and still works like the day I got it.
One thing I will say is though, I don’t notice too much of a difference between the microphones Cardioid and Omnidirectional settings, in Cardioid mode the microphone will still pick the quite a bit of the sound around it.
Overall a great product, can’t beat the price! Perfect for anyone just starting out in recording, especially voice, and looking to get a cheap and semi-professional audio quality microphone, great for Skype calls too!
I needed a microphone to record vocals and guitar but at the same time I didn’t have much money to spend, then I found the Blue Snowball and I was relieved.
Its a great little microphone, because its a condenser it records vocals very well, I use the microphone for both voice acting and singing and I hasn’t let me down yet! I’m also using it to record guitar and it does a really good job at the too, its best at recording acoustic guitar and though I would prefer a dynamic microphone for recording electric guitar (because of the amplifier) it still does a great job at recording that too.
Build quality is excellent, very sturdy, I’ve knocked it over and dropped it more times then I am proud of and still works like the day I got it.
One thing I will say is though, I don’t notice too much of a difference between the microphones Cardioid and Omnidirectional settings, in Cardioid mode the microphone will still pick the quite a bit of the sound around it.
Overall a great product, can’t beat the price! Perfect for anyone just starting out in recording, especially voice, and looking to get a cheap and semi-professional audio quality microphone, great for Skype calls too!
I use my Snowball for all kinds of recording! Together with this pop filter: […] (with Mic stand clamp) that I bought together from Amazon, I get excellent sound quality recordings. Thepop filter is excellent and clips right to my Blue Snowball mic. I mainly use my snowball for recording my voice for podcasts, voice over work, and msuic production.
Blue Snowballs are one of the best entry-level mics for serious podcasters who want to upgrade from using a headset or low quality microphone to record. Trust me, your podcast will sound much more professional when you upgrade to Blue.
I purchased this product since i use Skype a lot and play a lot of online games. Definitely a case of overkill, however I fell in love with this product the moment I saw it.
Opting for the brushed aluminium, it is more of a chromed plastic finish, and a little bit of a fingerprint magnet, however it’s looks always draw comments from friends, and I’ve been told that hearing me speak over it is like being in the same room.
This microphone has 3 settings, I find that for general day to day use, coupled with me sitting a sensible distance away that setting 2 is the best. 1 was too loud, and 3 was picking up my speakers. However it’s simply a question of plug and play to see what works for you.
It is certainly a good size, and worth bearing in mind if you don’t have a lot of desk space. About the same size as a tennis ball, it’s stand is sturdy, solid, and the whole thing looks and feels like it will last for a long time to come.
I cannot recommend this product more than I have, it’s a thing of beauty. Go buy one today!
I purchased this product since i use Skype a lot and play a lot of online games. Definitely a case of overkill, however I fell in love with this product the moment I saw it.
Opting for the brushed aluminium, it is more of a chromed plastic finish, and a little bit of a fingerprint magnet, however it’s looks always draw comments from friends, and I’ve been told that hearing me speak over it is like being in the same room.
This microphone has 3 settings, I find that for general day to day use, coupled with me sitting a sensible distance away that setting 2 is the best. 1 was too loud, and 3 was picking up my speakers. However it’s simply a question of plug and play to see what works for you.
It is certainly a good size, and worth bearing in mind if you don’t have a lot of desk space. About the same size as a tennis ball, it’s stand is sturdy, solid, and the whole thing looks and feels like it will last for a long time to come.
I cannot recommend this product more than I have, it’s a thing of beauty. Go buy one today!
I purchased this product since i use Skype a lot and play a lot of online games. Definitely a case of overkill, however I fell in love with this product the moment I saw it.
Opting for the brushed aluminium, it is more of a chromed plastic finish, and a little bit of a fingerprint magnet, however it’s looks always draw comments from friends, and I’ve been told that hearing me speak over it is like being in the same room.
This microphone has 3 settings, I find that for general day to day use, coupled with me sitting a sensible distance away that setting 2 is the best. 1 was too loud, and 3 was picking up my speakers. However it’s simply a question of plug and play to see what works for you.
It is certainly a good size, and worth bearing in mind if you don’t have a lot of desk space. About the same size as a tennis ball, it’s stand is sturdy, solid, and the whole thing looks and feels like it will last for a long time to come.
I cannot recommend this product more than I have, it’s a thing of beauty. Go buy one today!
I bought this microphone specifically for pod-casting,voice-overs,and a better microphone for video chatting. It works perfectly and has made my recording much clearer. I like it because it is USB powered and is easy to use anywhere you go. Just plug in and record and you are good to go. I would not recommend this product for studio recording (even though Justin Bieber used this mic) because it does not provide that many options when recording audio.
I would spend around $300+, look for a condenser mic with XLR connections, and buy a focusrite audio interface.
If you just want a great mic for simple recordings though, this is definitely the way to go!!
I love my Snowball mic, I have been using it for my youtube and it’s far better than my silly old 5 microphone I used to use. Wonderful quality. The only drawback is that I’d say a pop filter is a must, I made one out of a sock and a coat hanger but that’s not to stop you getting your hands on one. This is a definite buy for youtubers or musicians alike.
I’d love to give this 4 and three quarter stars because it’s a great microphone. There’s one or two things that mean it doesn’t get 5 stars, which is why it’s at 4.
Good:
-It looks great. I got it in glossy black, and it’s a really good looking, cool, retro style microphone – In glossy black, I might add, really does look glossy, much like the DS lite in terms of looks, unlike the matte looking picture on amazon. When it’s turned on, the red light looks great and the shiny “Blue” logo on the front looks awesome.
-It’s well made. The plastic is of great quality, it feels pretty sturdy, the microphone grating part behind the logo and through the slits at the back is a strong metal. The tripod that it comes with is really good, it’s strong, sits on the desk well, the rubbery feet mean it doesn’t move easily once you put it down, so the tripod does the job and is easily adjustable. There is one issue with how it’s made, but I’ll get onto that.
-The sound is good. It’s very clear, crisp, and on the whole has good pick up. There are three settings which are different, I tend to use the omnidirectional even for podcast like recording, because the one designed for it picks up more noise from the room, so the omnidirectional does a better job at just getting my voice, but that’s just through my experience. The second setting for recording instruments has quite a low pick up, so talking in that mode isn’t so easy, and since I don’t have a pop filter, talking close to the microphone isn’t really an option – it is, however, the most warm sounding of the settings. For better sound tests, look it up on youtube, as that’ll give you an idea for some of the modes, but in my experience so far, it’s better than what you hear on youtube, but that might just be because I’m hearing my own voice.
-Very easy to set up. Takes less than a minute if you know what you’re doing – Control panel, sounds and audio devices, audio, then change the default microphone to snowball. Very simple and easy. One issue I had (not the microphone’s fault), was that when I opened up my audio editing program, in this case audacity, it was still set as the inbuilt microphone, so I was pretty worried for a second until I realised my mistake and changed it to the correct setting.
-Delivery was good. After it was dispatched, took a day or so, and I was using super saver delivery (the free one). This was my first purchase on amazon, so I was delighted to get it so quickly.
-Price. Excellent. Got it for 63, or there around, and I see it’s been cut from around 80, I saw it in maplins for 99, so a really good buy at the moment for the money.
______________________________
Bad:
-There’s a sticker type thing going around the upper ring which has the name and company name, which has a bubble in a couple of places which means it’s raised up a bit, and it’s hard to push out. It’s like getting a bubble when laminating a sheet of paper. It’s somewhat annoying, and a shame because the rest of it is so good. It covers up the joint between the two halves of the microphone, so I won’t peel it off, and will refrain from reminding myself that it is there. I make it sound like it’s a bodily issue, but it’s really something that should have been printed on, not a cheap sticker.
-Sound could be *slightly* warmer. I can’t really explain it. I like the omnidirectional and the second setting, but the podcasty setting was slightly too harsh in its pick up. A little hard to explain, but not worth not buying for.
_____________________________
Verdict:
It’s great. For the price, for what you get, it’s wonderful. It’s my first stand-alone microphone, and it’s a great buy. Obviously there are better microphones in the world for higher prices, and there are a few features I would have liked like an on-board mute button, so I wouldn’t have to go into skype to mute myself, or to pause the editing program. It’s visually an awesome mic, it’s a physically strong mic, and it sounds really good. I’m very pleased with it, and it’s 100x better than the inbuilt mic I was previously using, and can’t wait to continue my use of the snowball in future. If you’re looking for a microphone, buy this one.
Originally, I had used Gaming Headset microphones as I recorded gameplay videos and talked with friends on skype, my headset however was near broken and my mic had terrible audio quality, as a result I looked into many different microphones and found the Blue microphone range, after looking at many reviews I decided on purchasing the Snowball and have not looked back since, the microphone is great quality and is perfect for use at home or for recording songs, video commentary or generally speaking with friends, I have since suggested the microphone to my friends, one of which bought the Blue Yeti, there is not a very noticeable difference between the snowball and yeti’s audio quality considering the price however, if you are planning on hosting a radio show, pod-cast or producing music I suggest using the Yeti or Yeti Pro if you can afford it as these are better for Studio use.
Another great feature of the Snowball is it’s ease of use, as stated, all you have to do is plug it into the computer and it will work, no drivers are needed to install and so it is great for those who are not very good with Computers.
Pros:
-Affordable Studio Quality Microphone
-Great Build Quality
-Great design and very easy setup
Cons:
-Cannot find any 🙂
Originally, I had used Gaming Headset microphones as I recorded gameplay videos and talked with friends on skype, my headset however was near broken and my mic had terrible audio quality, as a result I looked into many different microphones and found the Blue microphone range, after looking at many reviews I decided on purchasing the Snowball and have not looked back since, the microphone is great quality and is perfect for use at home or for recording songs, video commentary or generally speaking with friends, I have since suggested the microphone to my friends, one of which bought the Blue Yeti, there is not a very noticeable difference between the snowball and yeti’s audio quality considering the price however, if you are planning on hosting a radio show, pod-cast or producing music I suggest using the Yeti or Yeti Pro if you can afford it as these are better for Studio use.
Another great feature of the Snowball is it’s ease of use, as stated, all you have to do is plug it into the computer and it will work, no drivers are needed to install and so it is great for those who are not very good with Computers.
Pros:
-Affordable Studio Quality Microphone
-Great Build Quality
-Great design and very easy setup
Cons:
-Cannot find any 🙂
The Blue Snowball is a wonderful alternative to whatever you are using at the moment. Currently, I use it for commentaries and it picks my voice up perfectly with minimal popping, although if you want to pick up a pop screen filter then they aren’t too expensive either. It is sensitive in the sense that you can be relatively far away from it and it will still pick up your voice yet it is clever enough not to sound too loud if you are close to it.
Positives: USB microphone means no need for installation.
Perfectly clear sounding recordings.
Adjustable height and easy to set up.
Tripod is strong, with rubber grips so you can count on it to stay put and not take up too much space.
Just be sure to check that the Blue Snowball is compatiable with the Operating System you are using. Im using Windows XP and it works perfectly for me.
Ordered at 7am-ish on a Tuesday morning.. Woke up on Wednesday and was in my hands by 9:30 am… Open it up and attach the snowball to stand and attach a NADY 6″ Pop Filter to Snowball stand and was recording in less than 5 minutes. I couldnt be more satisfied with a Microphone of this price and quality. Records easily with any software, sound is Great.. I would recommend this to Vloggers, Youtube Video Commentators, amateur artists etc… If your looking for a more Professional series go with the Blue Microphones “Yeti” Its more feature rich and better quality sound. None the less the “Snowball” is an excellent “worth it” purchase.
I do webinar teaching that have several nations involved. The Blue Snowball USB Microphone is a great way to get clear voice to the webinars. It is a wonderful way to use the external microphone when needed. It is large about 6 inches tall but worth the price and has brought professional sound to the Webinars and Conference calls I do over the laptop computer. Easy to connect and set up took 2 minutes, most of the time was getting the microphone out of the package. I recommend this to anyone that wants clear sound on internet conferences and recordings.
You could find a number of ‘issues’ with it if you don’t know what you’re doing, but for those who understand the limitations — not of the Snowball but of home audio recording in general — and how to work round them to the advantage, the Snowball fits in just great.
You may need to push the gain up a little in your software, as the mic doesn’t have a preamp, but then again I could hear the tapping of my thumb and forefinger in front of and behind the mic – in other words it has no problem in picking up both direct and ambient noise. All three setting ‘positions’ have their uses depending on what you want to record, and in fact you might find you get a better vocal or acoustic instrument recording if you use the omni and get in closer — the trick is to EXPERIMENT and don’t take your first take as a definition of what the Snowball can help you achieve.
I’m sorry if this sounds like a lecture, but I am sick of reading the reviews from people who complain about the mic because — probably — the rest of their setup is appalling. Research and read some articles on audio recording (particularly in the home) and you’ll find that the biggest factor on getting decent recordings is the ROOM itself.
Try these:
[…]
Seriously, you can’t plug a mic — any mic — in to your PC or Mac and expect it to sound fantastic without you doing any work. It’s not a magic cure all for bad acoustics or bad vocals. That said, I believe the Snowball is one of the best microphones in its class (if you don’t need 24 bit / 192kHz recording, in which case look at the Yeti instead).
Perfectly usable with the likes of GarageBand, for podcasting, and so on. I personally wouldn’t use it with Skype or other IM because my headset is adequate for spoken vocals in that context, but I have no doubt it would work great.
I highly recommend this microphone. If audio levels are really likely to be an issue (bearing in mind that most amateur home recordists capture vocals at too high a level) perhaps you’d be better off with a Shure mic (or one of Blue’s XLR mics) and a XLR-USB preamp like the Icicle.
(and no I don’t work for Blue).
I got this microphone on Wednesday and it arrived the next day. The microphone is the perfect size and has a nice weight to it. It feels strong, sturdy and is an amazing product.
The microphone quality is really good and i am really happy with the mic. I use windows 7 and there was no manual installation needed. It runs well and i am very pleased and recommend this microphone to anyone 🙂
Thanks
For this price it’s just an amazing usb mic, the sound quality is very good. I believe this is a truly great deal of you want some quality on your recordings. Perfect for podcasts, voice over and music.
Working in the media industry I was sceptical when buying this. I usually work with tv studio microphones and equipment which is high quality but expensive for many pockets. So I bought this to do podcasts and some other vocal work from home. I was not disappointed and along with garage band and my mac, I have been about to produce some fabulous work. In fact, people thought I did it in the recording studio! I would not hesitate to recommend it to you too!
Overall it is a brilliant product and I would and have recommended it to anyone who wants to use it for making gameplay commentaries for youtube.
It’s a nice little microphone and picks up sound really well without annoying clicking and buzzing.
I had no previous knowledge with mics. The most I did recording-wise was with a headset – which produced inferior recordings – so this was bought after a bit if research on the internet. No regrets in buying this product – its small frame means it spends most of the time on my desk without taking up too much space. Very useful if like me if you have trouble keeping a tidy desk.
A few people have been worried about the blue snowball mic not working with Windows 7. I use a windows 7 64 bit laptop and so far there have been no problems. Once plugged in it recognises the mic pretty quickly and the laptop hasn’t come up with any error messages. While I cannot speak for other blue products this one works fine with 7.
At first I was hesitant to buy this mic as I had read some bad reviews of it.
I decided to throw caution to the wind and stick with my decision to order.
I am happy I did.The set up works well,no hassle plugging it in and the software installed easily upon W7. (simply goto Blues website for instructions)
The 2 year warranty it comes with is also a sign of good manufacture quality.
Thus far it has been tested only upon the PC but will tested upon other devices when I have the necessary connector bit thingym’jigs..
Overall, a five star review.
This microphone really stands out in quality, especially seen the low price for what you get.
It can easily be used for professional recording, although I do advise getting a pop filter together with it to filter out ‘p’ and ‘b’ popping sounds.
I have used it to record a rap song and the result was truly amazing.
Connecting to my computer was as easy as putting it in the USB port (on Mac).
On Windows I had to try connecting it a few times, but after that it worked perfectly without having to install any drivers.
Pros
The Build Quality is exquisite. The microphone doesn’t feel cheap or plastic. The front of the microphone is incredibly robust.
The Sound quality is brilliant. When I bought the microphone I was not expecting the quality to be this good.
It has three settings (adjustable via a switch on the back) The first is for voice overs or any other vocals, the second is for recording instruments (e.g Guitar), and the third is for interviews or for recording multiple voices.
Cons
The Tripod can be hard to use, and it is difficult to get the microphone off it.
Overall a brilliant microphone for even daily use. Definitely worth the money.
This product is easy to set up and install. I managed to source the instructions for the microphone online, but was able to figure out how to set up the product with its included tripod without the manual. The USB installation on my computer was quick and simple to do.
Bitte den Titel nicht falsch verstehen!
Das Mic ist deutlich besser als die meisten Mics, die standardmig in Headsets oder Cams verbaut sind.
Alles finde ich ziemlich gut, aber leider schaffe ich es nicht unter Windows 7 einzustellen, dass ich mich selbst hre, OHNE dabei Latenz zu haben (d.h. dass ich mich zwar hre, aber etwas verzgert).
Liegt wahrscheinlich am USB-Interface.
One of the better USB microphones on the market.
thanks.
This is an excellent mic for use with GarageBand in the Mac. However, I was disappointed to find that it would not work with a PC running Vista or Windows 7.
Does anyone know if it will work with GarageBand on the iPad2? (via the camera connection kit)
Recommend this to anyone who wants to get recording music on a home computer to produce studio quality sound.